Liberty Travels to ETSU for SoCon Match

LYNCHBURG, VA. – The Liberty Flames men's soccer team will travel to Johnson City, Tenn., for a SoCon match against the East Tennessee Buccaneers Saturday. The Flames (2-1, 4-4-2) and the Buccaneers (1-0-1, 5-6-2) are scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m. at Summers-Taylor Stadium.

Liberty enters the contest on a three-game unbeaten streak (2-0-1). The Flames shut out an opponent for the second straight game this past Saturday, downing the Mercer Bears 3-0 at Osborne Stadium in a SoCon contest. SoCon Offensive Player of the Week Manuel Vitorino scored a goal and recorded an assist, while Lachlan Middleton and Goncalo Sousa also scored in the Liberty win. The Flames allowed one shot on goal.

Liberty News & Notes

Liberty has shut out each of its last two opponents, Furman (1-0) and Mercer (3-0). The Flames have not allowed a goal over the last 221:38.
With their victory over Mercer this past Saturday, the Flames moved to 2-1 in SoCon play for six points in the conference standings. Liberty's next two conference games are on the road as it will visit ETSU this Saturday and Wofford next Saturday.
Last Saturday's game was Liberty's third home match of the season. With their win, the Flames moved to 2-1 at home this season.
Liberty and ETSU will meet for only the second time in each of their programs' histories on Saturday. The two teams met in 2015 in Johnson City with the Buccaneers winning 1-0.
Liberty has played seven of its 10 games on the road this season, posting a 2-3-2 overall mark.
Liberty has outscored its opponents, 17-16. The Flames are averaging 12.5 shots per game, while limiting their opponents to 9.4 shots per game.
The Flames recorded their first two shutouts of 2026 in their last two games, a 1-0 victory over Furman and a 3-0 victory over Mercer. Liberty allowed Mercer five shot attempts on Saturday, its lowest this season.
Manuel Vitorino was named the SoCon Offensive Player of the Week for Oct. 6. Vitorino scored his first goal of the season and assisted on another for three points in Liberty's victory over Mercer on Saturday.
Flames midfielder Lachlan Middleton scored his first goal of the season during the Mercer game, while Goncalo Stanton scored his second goal of the year in the match.
Liberty midfielder Ronnie Gorman recorded an assist on Vitorino's goal on Saturday and now has four assists this season. Gorman is tied for second in the SoCon and leads the Flames in assists.
Despite playing only five games, forward Samson Kpardeh leads Liberty with six goals and 12 points.
Gorman and Pablo Montavele are second on the Flames with six points. Gorman has a goal and four assists, while Montavele has scored two goals and has two assists.
Liberty goalkeeper Dan Rose recorded his first shutout of the season in the Flames' 3-0 victory over Mercer on Saturday. Rose made one save in the contest. He has started and played the full 90 in nine of Liberty's 10 matches this season, posting a 1.56 goals-against and a .667 save percentage over 810 minutes.
Liberty midfielder Javan Ochieng was called up to the Kenya National Team at the end of September and made his first appearance with the team last week.
The Flames have players from 13 different countries and six different continents.
Liberty head coach Scott Wells is in his first season with the Flames. He previously coached at Gardner-Webb, leading the Runnin' Bulldogs to the Big South Conference Championship in 2024.

Schedule

Liberty Travels to ETSU for SoCon Match

Players Mentioned

Ronnie Gorman

Samson Kpardeh

Lachlan Middleton

Javan Ochieng

Dan Rose

Goncalo Sousa

Manuel Vitorino

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